When I first arrived there were two other volunteers here from France. I shared a room with the woman for all of this week, but she went back to France today so I have the place to myself. It is nice, but she was such a funny older lady that I kinda miss her already. Besides her, there is one other volunteer from France who is my age named Stephan. He has a few more weeks here before he leaves. He actually takes surfing lessons on the weekends, so today I went with him to take pictures for him. It has also been so great to practice my French here! I've also been slowly learning the Indian language, Tamil, from my host family and other friends. About a year ago Ashley started to teach me. But learning Tamil always begins with learning the alphabet, which has 236 letters. So I always get tired of learning the alphabet, stop practicing, and then don't learn anything else.
My day usually starts with drinking tea with my host family. I don't know what kind of tea it is, but it is really good! About an hour later I also have breakfast with them. It usually includes foods called idly and parotas. You can google them for pictures. I eat only with my right hand, like the Indians, without any silverware. After breakfast, I go in to the organization's office. It is about a ten-minute walk away and is always interesting. Wild, sick, and diseased dogs are everywhere. Though I feel bad for them, I don't let them touch me, but I still sometimes skip or run around with them when they're not too hot. Other than that, many cows wander the streets. And there are a couple that will be giving birth to babies any day now. I always look for new baby calves everywhere. Besides that, the women will always wash off their porches and the street in front of their house each morning, and then draw patterns on their porch with chalk or by pouring sugar in beautiful patterns. So the mornings are very interesting and active.
The organization I'm volunteering for advocates for women's rights, which are much needed in India. So they teach women and kids how to speak English, how to work on computers, and other vocational skills to help them obtain jobs. I wanted to be more involved with the women, but the organization wants to make use of my English skills. So I am editing and writing a lot of reports for the company. Not too exciting.
The days get to be 110 degrees Fahrenheit here (not including humidity), and my work has no a/c, so I sit under all the best ceiling fans and work. I and the other volunteer sweat constantly. (I never see my Indian friends sweat). Thank heavens, my room has a little air conditioning unit, so when I come home, I hurry and turn it on, and just stand in front of it for a while. But, some days there are power outages, in which case the a/c and ceiling fans don't work.
At about 1 o'clock, my host parents and I go back home to have lunch. It's usually homemade curry, sambar, or some kind of vegetable mix, and…rice…of course. Then we go back to work for a couple more hours. My host parents usually work Monday through Saturday 8 am - 8 pm. But, I go home around 4:30 or 5. I'll cool off for a bit, and then go to explore around town, or do errands like going to the bank or getting items at the store. Other days I just sit and read. We have a staircase that goes up to the roof where one can best feel the breeze. I like to go up there and read or just think. Sometimes the neighbor kids will come over to talk. I'll talk with them or I'll see what everyone else is doing on their own rooftops up and down the street.
I hope you are both doing well. I think about you often and want to visit soon. If you have time, please write me a couple of lines on how you are. I may not be able to write back all of the time with lousy internet connection, but I love you.
Sarah
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